1974 in country music

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This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1974.

• March 16 — The Grand Ole Opry moves from the Ryman Auditorium, its home of the past 41 years, to the newly constructed 4,400-seat Grand Ole Opry House, on the Opryland complex. President Richard Nixon is a guest at the Ryman's last show. The Ryman would essentially sit vacant for the next two decades before being renovated in the early 1990s as a historical landmark and concert hall.
• July 17 — Don Rich, a key member of Buck Owens' backing band, The Buckaroos, is killed in a motorcycle crash on State Route 99 north of Bakersfield, California; he was 32. Owens is deeply saddened by Rich's death, and it will gravely affect his career for many years.^[1]
• October 17 — The pilot episode of Austin City Limits, featuring Willie Nelson, is recorded, and will air during PBS' 1975 pledge drive.

• Country purists, long troubled by a growing trend of pop music-influenced country, form the Association of Country Entertainers, as a result of the outcry over the 1974 Country Music Association awards program, where pop diva Olivia Newton-John won Female Vocalist of the Year, and Danny Davis & the Nashville Brass was awarded another Instrumental Group of the Year.
• The proliferation of No. 1 hits, as certified by Billboard, extends into 1974, when 40 songs reach the top of the Hot Country Singles chart. In fact, just nine songs – 10, counting Merle Haggard's "If We Make It Through December", which spent two of its four weeks at No. 1 in January – remain at the top spot for more than one week.
• Dolly Parton leaves Porter Wagoner's band and his weekly television show, after seven years, to embark on a solo career.
• Loretta Lynn releases "The Pill", a sexually frank song about birth control. The song is deemed controversial and some country stations refuse to play it.

(as certified by Billboard)

(as certified by RPM)

• January 7 — John Rich, singer-songwriter and member of Big & Rich.
• February 17 – Chuck Dauphin, American sports radio broadcaster and country music journalist (died 2019).^[2]
• February 17 — Bryan White, singer-songwriter from the 1990s.
• March 18 – Phillip Sweet, member of Little Big Town.
• May 23 – Jewel, multi-genre singer-songwriter who released the country album Perfectly Clear in 2008.
• June 6 – Uncle Kracker, rock singer who has had major country successes with "When the Sun Goes Down" (duet with Kenny Chesney) and "Smile."
• September 12 — Jennifer Nettles, lead singer of Sugarland.
• October 14 — Natalie Maines, lead singer of the Dixie Chicks.
• November 21 — Kelsi Osborn, member of SHeDAISY.

• January 2 — Tex Ritter, 68, silver screen cowboy and western artist (heart attack).
• April 26 – Tim Spencer, 65, member of the Sons of the Pioneers.
• July 17 — Don Rich, 32, right-hand man of Buck Owens and key member of the Buckaroos (motorcycle crash).

• Owen Bradley (1915–1998)
• Pee Wee King (1914–2000)

• Best Female Country Vocal Performance — "A Love Song", Anne Murray
• Best Male Country Vocal Performance — "Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends", Ronnie Milsap
• Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal — "Fairytale", The Pointer Sisters
• Best Country Instrumental Performance — The Atkins - Travis Traveling Show, Chet Atkins and Merle Travis
• Best Country Song — "A Very Special Love Song", Billy Sherrill and Norro Wilson (Performer: Charlie Rich)

• Country Male Vocalist of the Year — Stompin' Tom Connors
• Country Female Vocalist of the Year — Shirley Eikhard
• Country Group or Duo of the Year — Mercey Brothers

• Entertainer of the Year — Mac Davis
• Song of the Year — "Country Bumpkin", Don Wayne (Performer: Cal Smith)
• Single of the Year — "Country Bumpkin", Cal Smith
• Album of the Year — Back Home Again, John Denver
• Top Male Vocalist — Merle Haggard
• Top Female Vocalist — Loretta Lynn
• Top Vocal Duo — Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn
• Top New Male Vocalist — Mickey Gilley
• Top New Female Vocalist — Linda Ronstadt

• Entertainer of the Year — Charlie Rich
• Song of the Year — "Country Bumpkin", Don Wayne (Performer: Cal Smith)
• Single of the Year — "Country Bumpkin", Cal Smith
• Album of the Year — A Very Special Love Song, Charlie Rich
• Male Vocalist of the Year — Ronnie Milsap
• Female Vocalist of the Year — Olivia Newton-John
• Vocal Duo of the Year — Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn
• Vocal Group of the Year — The Statler Brothers
• Instrumentalist of the Year — Don Rich
• Instrumental Group of the Year — Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass

• Kingsbury, Paul, "The Grand Ole Opry: History of Country Music. 70 Years of the Songs, the Stars and the Stories," Villard Books, Random House; Opryland USA, 1995
• Kingsbury, Paul, "Vinyl Hayride: Country Music Album Covers 1947–1989," Country Music Foundation, 2003 (ISBN 0-8118-3572-3)
• Millard, Bob, "Country Music: 70 Years of America's Favorite Music," HarperCollins, New York, 1993 (ISBN 0-06-273244-7)
• Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs 1944–2005 – 6th Edition." 2005.

• Country Music Association
• Inductees of the Country Music Hall of Fame

• Country Music Hall of Fame